The Big Bang Multiverse
by Tuesday Pajamas
Summary: The gang are left reeling over sad news about Penny's pregnancy when the strange appearance of a 2nd Leonard Hofstadter threatens to unhinge their universe. Fearing the consequences, they promise never to ask 'Leo' about his alternative Pasadena. Who will break first? Set after the end of the show. *Shenny* but also multi-ship sympathetic.
1. Chapter 1

**_Yes I am a Shenny Shipper, yet this is my first attempt to write a story which is sympathetic to all ships.  
_**

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Some bad news shakes the gang**

Looking down at the grainy scan, a tear welled in Leonard's left eye. '_I will not cry'_, he told himself, yet it made it's way down his cheek in defiance. The doctor had spoken clearly but the words made little sense and they now echoed inside his head once more. _"I'm sorry, there is no baby."_

It had been hard to digest, almost impossible to accept. Leonard had stuttered a reply, "…but how?" and the rest was a blur, as he stood alongside his equally confused wife. He'd never even heard of pseudocyesis, also known as 'phantom pregnancy'. Neither of them had. The doctor went on to explain that it was a condition when a woman's body _"…mimicked pregnancy, when she was in fact not pregnant at all…"_ That these things just _"…happen sometimes when a woman was under stress and dearly wanted a child…"_ Doctor Evered explained that they would have to do more tests to check if Penny had any underlining issues but that she seemed in good health.

Leonard gripped the scan in his left hand and closed his eyes for a second, only to hear his wife leaving the bathroom down the hall. Hastily wiping his damp cheek with a sleeve, he straightened up. He must be strong… _for her_. "Can I get you anything?" he offered, letting the scan slip from his fingers on to the coffee table.

Penny slowed to a stop in the middle of the room, eyes cast down as though thinking on his offer. "I…," she said softly. "I'm okay."

She certainly looked okay, as radiant as she ever was. In all the years he had known her, she never stopped being beautiful to him. The soft green shirt hung gently over her slender frame, the tight jeans, and the glossy golden hair that complemented her perfect skin. He reached his hand out to stroke those soft curls by her face. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm…" she didn't finish.

There had been tears at the hospital, just for a minute and he'd held her close as she cried. He expected much more when they returned home and he was ready to comfort but he knew all too well that he couldn't always predict the behaviour of his wife. "Shell we stay in, get a Chinese take-out, watch something you like?"

Her manner was unusually reticent, "Sure," she said, as though in a daze and proceeded to sit down in Sheldon's spot.

The speckled man eyed her for a second with a worried frown. A sudden memory of Sheldon and Amy relying on tea during distressing times spurred him to action. . "Tea..." he blurted, "…I'll make tea." Continuing to talk as he reached into cupboards for mugs and filled the kettle. "I know this is heart-breaking for us but once we take time to understand why it happened … I'm sure we can get through it… I'm always here for you… and when you are ready, we can try again…"

"I think I'd like to go on a girls' night." It was so sudden.

"Tonight?" _Have I pushed too hard? Should I have not mentioned 'trying again'? _He gave her another concerned look. A girls' night didn't seem like a good idea, after such news.

"Well, it's not like I can't drink now," the truth stung.

"I know _but_…" was all he could say.

"I'll text the girls," she said brightening up, stepping away and pulling her phone from her back pocket.

_Please don't go_, he wanted to say but she had already gone to change.

* * *

Over at 4B, the text had been received loud and clear but Amy was wearing an ever-growing scowl. "I have to go, Penny needs me," she insisted.

"…but we haven't gone through any of this..." The tall man gestured towards several large piles of paper on the table in front of him. "…now we are Nobel laureates we have been bombarded with _hundreds_ of offers and invitations…and LOOK!…" he said, waving one on the air "…an invitation from quantum geniuses, Stormer and Tsui…" he seemed extra jittery this evening and Amy really wasn't in the mood.

"Sheldon!" she said with as much patience as she could muster. "My best friend has just found out she not going to have a baby. She wants to meet her friends. I'm going..."

"Should I come along…?"

"No!"

"…but I'm Penny's friend…"

"She wants a _girls'_ night."

"But I've been on a girls' night before, you know that, we danced. Maybe I should bring a fruit basket? Would she like a fruit basket… is that appropriate?"

"_Sheldon!_" Amy boomed, with much less patience. "She doesn't want a fruit basket!"

His eyes were wild and startled by the outburst. "…but…"

"You're not coming! You didn't even show the slightest interest in her pregnancy before."

Sheldon flushed as the guilt hit him. It was true, he had barely reacted but hadn't expected everyone to notice. The guilt seemed to travel from his toes to the crown of his head. _He had only done what he had promised. _Keeping secrets had never been this odd mans strong suit and he wondered if the reddening of his cheeks would give him away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap," Amy said softly as she slung her bag over a shoulder_. _

_It hadn't_.

Glancing back at the letter in his hand he searched for something to do or say, to distract from his sweaty palms. "…b-but what do I tell Stormer and Tsui?" was all he could manage.

Amy huffed. "Stormer and Tsui can wait," and with that the door closed and she was gone.

The tall man placed the letter down and covered his face with both hands, in deepest despair. He wanted to go to Penny but was that allowed? Not long ago, he would have gone immediately. They had always shared a special bond. As close friends, they had relied on each other for support more often than he cared to remember. But after _that night_ everything changed…

_Things had been said that couldn't be taken back. _

From that day forward, they had both promised never to speak of _that night_ again. He could no longer rush to his friend for advise on Amy's latest disappointment in him, or joke with Penny about her issues with Leonard.

_Not ever again._

He sniffed and picked up a pen. 'A physicist needs something to put his mind to, a Nobel laureate has a moral and civic responsibility to enlighten and inform.'

_Not ever…_

Staring at the letter of invitation in front of him, Sheldon sighed and firmly ticked the box.

_Yes, we will be attending._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to those who read the opening Chapter, particularly if you reviewed. Really appreciate the feedback… _

* * *

**_Chapter 2 - Keeping occupied_**

_She really wasn't as stupid as they thought she was..._

Penny managed a little inner smile as her friends launched into a tirade about their husbands. It wasn't difficult to get them off the subject of her phantom pregnancy. All she had to do was hint at something that Howard or Sheldon might being doing or thinking and they dropped the difficult questions, which she had no answers for. No answers that she cared to share. Or cared to admit… Howard was _"…completely immersed in his work…"_ at the moment and _"sleeps through the night, like a baby…"_ leaving Bernadette to tend to the children. And Sheldon _"…has been a nervous wreak since they won the Nobel Prize and is so ill-equipped to deal with the invites, job offers and instant celebrity…"_ that Amy is concerned that it's affecting their marriage.

When the three girls' first arrived at the small but stylish bar, there were many supportive remarks and kindness. It was a relief to be with her friends, as being at the hospital that day had been brutal. Her future instantly changed when the doctor told them she wasn't pregnant and the symptoms would "go away". Her tears had not been for herself but for Leonard. He had wanted a baby so much and she felt as though she had failed him. The whole ordeal had thrown up too many questions. Why did it happen to her? She knew the answer but it was too painful and she couldn't tell anyone. Before too long, the subject turned to the shocking discovery of her 'non-pregnancy' and Penny just had to veer them off.

"I suppose you don't want to talk about it?" Bernadette urged in that tone which she so often used, a tone, which meant that she intended to get Penny to talk even if she didn't want to.

"There's not much to say."

"I'm so sorry Penny, we are here for you," she placed a reassuring hand on her friends arm.

"Thanks, I'm not sure what to feel."

Amy took a more scientific approach to questioning. "There's a very unusual paradox going on because a phantom pregnancy is usually reserved for those whose desire to have children so strongly, that they psychologically _will_ their bodies into a pseudo-pregnant state. With a distended belly, hormonal changes, nausea… but you never wanted to have a child before, so…"

"Amy!" Bernadette warned her friend to stop and Amy took a sip from her brightly colored cocktail instead if continuing.

With a thin smile, Penny began stirring her gin and tonic but not tasting it. Even though she knew she was permitted to drink alcohol, it still felt odd doing so. "I'm a paradox," she said, attempting to lighten the mood. Bernadette had a look of worry and Amy was observing her as though she were a test subject in the lab. She could feel more questions brewing and needed to deflect. "I hear Howard is working on a _paradox_ of his own."

Bernadette groaned and rolled her eyes. "Oh god, Howard's new project! It's all he talks about and it's not part of his actual job. He's not even supposed to be working on it at Caltech. He's going to get in deep trouble if anyone finds out."

"What sort of project," Amy asked.

"Something with lasers, I don't really know. He's hidden away in a secret room. Only Leonard knows about it."

"A secret room?" This had Amy hooked, and she leaned forward almost toppling her cocktail.

"Some dusty old office that was abandoned because it's so cold."

"Cold?"

"Apparently it's an ice box, even in summer."

"That's kind of weird." Amy frowned, as the University had very good air con, she remembered commenting on it when she was visiting.

"Sheldon will be interested in that." Penny had said his name. She did it to keep them talking about their own lives but if felt illicit to say _his_ name. There was now a distance between her and her once dear frenermy, he seemed like a stranger.

_A stranger who she must keep at arms length. _

Amy was explaining how _"...impossible Sheldon had become…"_ and how he was _"…driving her insane since they won the Nobel…"_ but Penny was elsewhere…

"Why don't we dance?" she suggested.

* * *

_Meanwhile at 4A…_

He looked at the clock.

11:45pm

He wouldn't be able to sleep until she was home, as his stomach was in knots. _How long would that be?_ He would wait, in bed, sleepless, staring into the dark. He looked at the clock again. The silence made his ears ring loudly as he traced the long shadows across the ceiling, which crept between the curtains. He wondered where the girls had gone tonight, should he have asked? Worry had begun to sneak in and he glanced once more at the clock.

Then, at last there was a soft click of the lock, and some moments of pause before the padding across the floor. He knew she had taken off her shoes so not to wake him. All the tension immediately drained from his body. She was home. He just wanted her home.

Penny undressed quietly and slipped into the bed next to him. He wasn't sure why he pretended to be asleep. Probably because he didn't want to make her feel bad that he was waiting up. As she settled, he turned towards her and put his arm across her middle. The familiar perfume of her hair floated into his nostrils, lulling him off to sleep.

_She was home. _

* * *

_The next evening at 4B…_

"Why did you accept the invitation for us to go to Stormer and Tsui's event? You know I can't go." Amy stomped her foot. "You know I have to deliver my final results the next day. I can't possibly attend!" she was more than a little annoyed.

"I forgot."

Amy pursed her lips. Forgetting something that was important to him? Never! Forgetting the final delivery of the project she'd been working on for months? Of course he did!

Amy went to the kitchen to busy herself with dinner and to hide her anger. Placing an onion on the cutting board she brought down the knife hard. It split in two and she saw him jump out of the corner of her eye, which gave her a little satisfaction. There would always be times like this with her challenging husband. Sometimes he was sweeter and more loving than any other man could ever be. His innocence and loyalty touched her profoundly. It was at those times when she could swim in those blue eyes and couldn't believe just how lucky she was. Then he would go and spoil it, like tonight. She was resigned to this fact about him and sighed. "You should go."

"Alone?"

"Yes alone, it may inspire a new project."

"I don't need a new project, I have these!" he was shaking an arch lever file in her direction, all now neatly alphabetized but every page causing him immense turmoil.

"You don't have to consider every job offer or invite thrown at us. You know you're happy at Caltech."

"Am I? AM I?" his eye began to twitch.

Amy walked across the room and snatched the arch lever file away. "Yes! You're driving yourself crazy. When someone wins a Nobel, they are swamped with offers. It's just what happens. Other laureates have warned us of the fallout after a win."

"Fallout!" he echoed. "We have become scientific celebrities, our voice matters, everyone wants answers Amy! I don't have answers…"

"It's going to be okay," she said soothingly.

"It's okay for _you_. You have a project in the works and have been able to get your teeth into work again. I have nothing… nothing but all those pages," he looked longingly at the file. "Maybe the answer is in there but I need to look harder."

"No." she growled. "Why don't you talk to Howard, he has a _secret_ project going." She regretted mentioning the project instantly. Amy didn't like to repeat a confidence but he was just so hard to get off track when he was acting this way. Bernadette had told them _"…only Leonard knows…"_ but it was just her husband, how much trouble could it cause?


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry this fic hasn't provided any Shenny 'fluff' yet, I have plans for everyone and every ship but I have to set it up first. _

* * *

**Chapter 3: A simple accident. A massive ****-up.**

**..**

_Only two sat down for lunch at the Caltech cafeteria the next day…_

"What do you mean a _secret project?_" Raj asked, taking a break from demolished a tuna sandwich.

Sheldon lowered his voice to check that no one was close enough to hear what he was about to say before answering. "That's what Amy told me last night… and only Leonard knows about it."

"_Leonard?_" Raj spat, "… b-but _I'm_ Howard's best friend!"

"Keep your voice down," he hushed, "I'd also like to know why they didn't share this with me."

"Those _ratfinks_! No wonder Howard hasn't been at lunch all week. He told me he had deadlines but instead he's moonlighting on another project and hasn't even told me… _I mean us_." He was pouting now. "So where is Leonard today anyway?"

"He's working from home, he has a lot of paperwork."

"Oh and he probably wants to stay home and look after Penny, it's so sad what they are going through." Raj said wistfully.

Sheldon flinched at the mention of _her_ and cleared his throat before returning to the task at hand. "I thought we might have a better shot finding Howard's secret lab while Leonard's not here to tip him off."

"True… but how are we going to do that?"

"With this," he pulled a DVD from his pants pocket and placed it on the table.

Raj frowned. "What's on it?"

"It's the University security footage from earlier this week. I've already identified Howard and I think I've figured out where he's been sneaking off to."

"Where on earth did you get that?"

"From Rodrigo, Head of Security. He knows me quite well."

Raj's brow furrowed. "Really?" he said in disbelief, he had no idea that Sheldon spoke to anyone else on campus, let alone knowing him _quite well_.

"Yes, he sometimes asks me to peruse hours of security tapes, to help him find out whose moving the bins, or what keeps pooping in the car park, or what happened to the blueberry muffins last fall."

"Oh my god! you solved Muffin-Gate?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yes. I'm quite the amateur sleuth," he said, with a little smirk. "For some reason Rodrigo doesn't enjoy looking through weeks of security footage like I do. He'll often give me an assignment and I can skim through hours of footage in no time. It's quite relaxing. Anyway, he owed me one."

Raj grinned at the thought of the security guard using one of Sheldon's unusual interests to his own end. "Cool, now let's go and find that _weasel_," he said, banging his fist on the table, only for Sheldon to deliver him a frown. They rose from the table and cleared away the trays to leave. "So… what was it that kept pooping in the car park?" Raj asked.

* * *

Deep within the bowels of Caltech a figure sat hunched over a circuit board. Fur-lined hood of his thick coat was pulled in tightly but even so, he couldn't seem to stay warm. Working under the light of one lamp, so not to attract attention from the outside world, he turned to look behind him in the dim room. A shiver passed through him. The abandoned lab was cluttered with unwanted boxes and old equipment, long forgotten. Disturbingly, he was sure it was getting colder every day he spent there.

_But that was impossible, he told himself, it was the height of the Pasadena summer outside. _

Even more disturbingly was the fact that the cold seem to be coming from the far corner of the room. Or more accurately, from one object in the far corner. Directly behind him sat a large concave mirror. The type that might have been part of an optic light experiment, many moons ago. Its silvery orb was now gathering dust, just another derelict piece of tech left behind. Yet he couldn't shake the suspicion that the mirror was somehow the source of the creeping cold.

_Brrrrrrrr!_

Shaking off his thoughts as pure silliness. _That isn't possible._ "I've been alone in here too long." He muttered.

Resuming the task at hand, Howard picked up a soldering iron, the tip radiating a little much needed heat into the room, and begun to fuse parts into the body of the machine. If he could only just get his cold fingers to hold on a little longer he would just about...

Click!

The room was suddenly ablaze with artificial light as the overheard fluorescents flickered to life "Aha!" It was Raj's voice and they had found their prize. The soldering iron clattered to the floor and sent the machine he was hybridizing, swinging around on its frame.

"Raj?" Howard jumped out of his skin.

"Yes it's me. You didn't think I'd find you, did you?" He was shaking a finger at his traitorous buddy with Sheldon cross-armed and glaring alongside him.

"Close the door!" Howard bellowed and when neither moved, he shot over and closed it himself. "How _did_ you find me?"

"It wasn't difficult," Sheldon said in his best Detective voice. "When Amy alerted me about your illegal activities, I followed you on CCTV."

"They're not illegal, it's just not strictly… _sanctioned_."

"That's illegal."

"How could you not tell us you had a secret project?" Raj said. The machine continued to turn around and around on it's base.

"There wasn't any funding left and I just couldn't get the idea out of my head, Leonard told me this story of an abandoned office and I…"

"You decided to build a potentially dangerous machine on University grounds?" Sheldon accused, "…_without letting us in on it!_" He looked at the spinning creation. "Except, what is it?"

Howard flopped down on a closest chair, "It was going to be a repair tool. I wanted to build something that would revolutionize the mission for the men and women in the International Space Station. Something they could use right up their in space." He turned to Raj. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I'm not even sure it works yet but I wanted to give them something more than… a space toilet."

"I get that," Raj easily felt sympathy for his old pal.

The abandoned machine had begun to spin a little faster. "Is it supposed to be doing that?" Sheldon asked, as the Frankenstein laser-thingy spun faster and faster.

"Maybe we should pull the plug out of the wall, just to be safe." Raj suggested.

Sheldon wasn't standing far away so he reached down and yanked the plug out. Immediately there was an almighty explosion! The lights blew out above them and all three instinctively dropped to the ground. Years of paintball had served them well. A blinding light emanated from the machine, which found its target, blasting into the concave mirror, showering them with sparks. Before the lights blew out, Howard was sure it was the mirror that drew the lasers fire. He was gripped by fear, as the now darkened room filled with grey smoke. Choking, he flung himself in the direction of the windows, fumbling to open latches. Smoke billowed out onto the campus outside.

Coughing could be heard coming closer, as Sheldon and Raj quickly joined him at the window. "Do you think anyone heard that?" he said.

Sheldon looked at him in disbelief. "They could have heard that at your precious International Space Station." He spat.

"I'm screwed." Howard sighed, waving a hand in front of his face as the smoke started to clear. "Let's hope they just think it's Kripke exploding heavy metals in a sink, again."

"Guys?" Raj's voice was shaky as he stood looking back into the soot-covered room. "W-what's that?" He stuttered.

The others immediately spotted the large heap he was referring to, right in the middle of the room. A human shaped heap…

It was a naked man curled up in a fetal position, his back to them. He lay not far from the concave mirror, which was shimmering in the most unnatural way. "Holy crap" Howard said. "Where did he come from?

"We've blown someone up." Raj squeaked.

"There wasn't anyone else in here." Sheldon reminded them.

"Maybe he came in when we weren't looking." Raj said, even though he knew that Sheldon was right.

Taking a step forward Howard called to the now stirring heap "Dude? Naked dude?" Sound hissed from the naked mans lips. "Ca-ca-ca-ca…"

"I don't think he speaks English." Raj whispered.

"Ca-ca-coo-coooold." The man managed.

Howard took a further step forward and instantly saw a face he recognized. "Oh my god its Leonard." He yelled, dropping to his knees next to his friend.

"It can't be Leonard." Sheldon scoffed, moving away from the window to take a closer look at their sudden intruder.

"Get something to cover him up, he's freezing." Howard gasped.

Raj was first to the boxes, opening anything he could find while Sheldon checked cupboards, throwing any fabrics they found in Howard's general direction. A lab coat, a flag, some Caltech initialed towels. Howard swaddled Leonard as best he could, pulling the lab coat on and buttoning it up. Wrapping him in the towels. The man opened his eyes, "Howie," he suddenly grasped at Howards collars, peering into his face and smiling broadly. "It's _you_."

"Yes, it's me?"

"How did he get here?" Raj said.

Sheldon began to pace back and forward, with a finger to his lips in thought but he could barely contain his excitement. "I don't want to speak too soon but I think something _quite_ remarkable has just happened here today." He clenched his fist and held it up to his lips. "I-I think we have just invented a TRANSPORTER BEAM!" He was grinning as though all his childhood dreams had just come true.

"_We?_" Howard fired back.

"OMG!" Raj screamed. "Leonard was sitting happily at home with Penny and BANG! we've transported him to Caltech." He began to hyperventilate. "We'll get a Nobel for this."

"It'll be my second." Sheldon sighed dreamily.

"Again, I say _WE?_" but no one was paying attention.

The soot covered man groggily swung to face his ex-roommate. "Sheldon?" he whispered at the tall man.

"Heeeello Leonard, are you okaaaay?" he said slowly.

Leonard turning to Raj, "Comic Con guy…?"

"No, I'm Raaaaj…"

"Ahhh yes…. Rajesh Kadamuddi."

"_Kooooothrapoooooli_" he corrected and quickly added. "I think we broke him."

"We have to get him home, help me." Howard said, with a worried frown. He scooped under Leonard's arm to help him up and Raj quickly took the other side. Moving as fast as they could, Howard swung the door open once more and they powered through.

Sheldon unexpectedly stopped in the doorway. "What are we going to do about _that_?" he nodded towards the shimmering mass, which was once a concave mirror. A cold-producing, spooky, horror-movie style mirror, but a mirror no less. It now lit up the darkened room with a soft ominous glow, emitting some kind of energy field.

"We'll just close that, shall we?" Howard said, pulling the outer door shut with his free hand, as though he was simply closing a kitchen cupboard.

* * *

_Sometime later they made it back to Los Robles…_

"I'm home," Leonard said sleepily.

"Yes, you're home." Raj said.

Raj and Howard had supported their weakened friend all the way up the stairs and had finally arrived outside his apartment door. Sheldon had been trailing behind and was unusually quiet given that they had just witnessed one of those most groundbreaking discoveries of their time. In fact his mind was whirling, at first trying to make sense of the series of events. The science just didn't add up. Not that the science for creating a transporter would have easily added up, but the light was a laser and laser wouldn't reassemble matter. And then as they came up to the door, _he wondered about her..._

_Was she home when Leonard disappeared in front of her? Was she hurt?_ His heart thumped.

"What's the hell the hold-up?" Howard complained. "Open the door."

Having a spare to 4A, Sheldon hastily removed a set of keys from his pants pocket and unlocked the door, pushed it open with his palm. Relieved, the others staggered inside the apartment.

Leonard and Penny were sitting on the couch…


End file.
